Farmers' Markets Around Town

I look with anticipation each year as spring rolls around and farmers' markets appear. I do like the various winter markets around town but let's face it, Indiana is not in a subtropical/tropical zone. It has little to show in winter. In warm times, I have been a patron of the Broad Ripple farmer's market, behind the high school, for years. Unfortunately, my favorite vendors there, Neighbor's Garden and Seldom Seen Farms have disappeared due to unfortunate circumstances Actually Seldom Seen has merged with another vendor as part of FarmIndy, though I see much less of its pieces of art. They had radishes, greens, and cilantro that were breathtaking.. Broad Ripple features many wonderful vendors including Homestead Growers and Trader's Point Creamery. Trader's Point always pleases with its award-winning yogurts and cheeses. I like this particular market also because it showcases lots of produce and allows dogs. I love dog and people watching here. The crowds are manageable as well. This brings me to Carmel Farmer's market that recently has moved from a park-like setting to a concrete slab by the Palladium. Something is very wrong when one has to park in a parking garage and ride the elevator down to an outdoor market in a small - yes small town. The vendors tend to be wanna-be restaurants although there are a few bonafied produce vendors. The crowds are overwhelming especially if you arrive after nine. These problems, crowds and few produce vendors are also problems for the Zionsville market. The other markets I have ventured to around town are just too small. And did I mention no dogs at the Carmel market? Have a heart! I long for those piles of miraculous vegetables seen so readily in European outdoor markets where people and dogs leisurely roam with room to move.. Markets there are not a cultural trend but a way of life.

Oakley's Delights

Oakley's Bistro on 86th St. has been one of my favorite restaurants in Indy for several years. It is privately owned, consistently good, uses seasonal local ingredients, is creative, and has a nice atmosphere. They also have great cooking classes too. I like going at lunch when you get a snapshot of the restaurant for much cheaper prices than in the evening. Today I took my co-worker out to lunch at Oakley's. She loves creme brulee and I had informed her that Oakley's has a fine one. At lunch it is fairly empty which I always find depressing. I love its decor - subdued yet warm with rich browns and some blue. There is quiet music in the background. We are placed in a cozy booth and begin to check out the menu. It consists of soups, salads, tarts, and small entrees and various combos. Most under $10. Each ingredient in a dish is interestingly listed as a separate item. I choose the tomato basil soup beautifully served in a pewter tureen. My co-worker and I both order the chicken turnover which is a lovely puff pastry of a thing stuffed with chicken, brie, and spinach topped with a nice mustard and slices of pickled beet and paired with a lovely and colorful salad of local greens, carrots, radishes and pea shoots. To finish we order the day's featured creme brulee, one that is topped with chocolate mousse. Sadly, my friend finds the creme brulee a little too egg-y for her taste but to my taste buds it is ambrosia - just the right crack when I break the carmelized surface and a creamy chilled vanilla bean custard underneath. Luckily, I have them serve the mousse on the side since I am a creme brulee purist. The mousse is nice but not as silky as I would like. Ah - another good meal in Indy. If I do have a complaint about Oakley's it is the service. It tends to be impersonal and not as attentive as I would expect for a high-end restaurant. It also can be relatively slow for lunch. Maybe next time dinner?

 

Atmosphere - 8
Presentation - 10
Price - 7 (for lunch)
Food - 9.5
Service - 6
Overall - 9

Demarle Party at Home

This week I hosted a Demarle at Home cooking party. My friends and I sat around watching a cooking demo and we also did a recipe exchange. For those not familiar, Demarle at Home is a direct sales company that allows customers in the U.S. to enjoy Silpat products from France, not readily available in our stores. Sure there are Silpat mats and versions of Silpat in the U.S. market, but to have the other high-quality silcone/woven glass molds and mats one usually has to order through high-end online stores and often at higher costs. I was excited to see these products demonstrated in my home and have already been enjoying my sister’s Flexipan flower petal mold to bake muffins and single-portion size quiches. Here is a link to Demarle at Home where you can browse their catalog and shop:
http://experience.demarleathome.com

I have also included below our recipes from the evening.

Black Bean Chipotle Soup served at the party – Go to January Archives on the blog and at the end of the Very Local Chez Carrie post, you will find the recipe.

Texas-Sized Blueberry Muffins submitted by Corrin
(Makes 8 large muffins)

2 ½ c flour
2 t baking powder
½ t salt
1/2 c unsalted butter, softened
1 ½ c sugar
3 eggs
¾ c milk
1 t vanilla
2 ½ -3 c fresh or frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in mixing bowl and set aside. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy with mixer. Add eggs one at a time, beating well. Add milk and vanilla to wet mixture. Slowly add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just blended. Gently fold in blueberries. Fill Flexipan Texas Muffin Tray or muffin tray of your choice. Place on Perforated Baking Sheet if using Flexipan product. Fill muffin trays half full and bake for 35 minutes or until lightly golden.
 
Oatmeal Cake with Icing submitted by Judy

1 ¼ c boiling water
1 c quick cook oats
½ c butter
1 c white sugar
1 c brown sugar
2 eggs beaten
1 1/3 c flour
¾ t baking soda
 ¼ t salt
½ t cinnamon

Pour water over oats and let stand while preparing rest of mixture. Cream butter, add sugars, and continue creaming. Add beaten eggs. Sift flour, soda, salt and cinnamon. Add oat mixture and dry ingredients to creamed mixture. Pour into your choice of Flexipan mold or greased and floured square cake pan and bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes.

Icing
¼ c milk
6 T butter
¾ brown sugar
1 c coconut
1 c nuts (pecans suggested)
1 t vanilla

Mix all ingredients and pour over warm cake. Put under broiler (remember to transfer to broiler safe plate if using Flexipan mold) until mixture bubbles and browns slightly.

Spinach Salad submitted by Judy

1 lb fresh spinach
1 can sliced water chestnuts
2 hard-boiled eggs shredded
½ lb bacon diced
¾ c bean sprouts
Note: Other ingredients can be added such as grape tomatoes.

Dressing
1 small diced onion
1 T Worchestershire sauce
½ c salad oil
½ c white sugar
¼ c ketchup
2 T apple cider vinegar

Mix above ingredients in blender or by hand with whisk. Mix dressing several hours before serving over salad to let flavors mellow together and keep at room temperature.

The New Eggshell Bistro

Eggshell Bistro, in the heart of Carmel, is on Indianapolis Monthly's list of best new restaurants this year. I peeked in as I picked up cupcakes at Holy Cow Cupcakes next door. I love the look of this breakfast/lunch bistro. The first thing you notice is its cheery yellow metal chairs and its progressive edge. I looked in the bakery case and decided to pick up a few lemon poppy seed scones. They had a limited menu listed on a chalkboard. I was intrigued by its look and paid the steep $8 for my two scones on a fancy tablet where my bill appeared. Once home I tried out the scones which were pretty good, maybe a little eggy and probably not worth the price. I will put this on my list as a place I would like to go to try a meal without the toddler. I suspect however that I will find it overpriced and perhaps not quite as good as I would expect from its sophisticated face.

Casa Grande in Castleton

After a brief hiatus I am back on the restaurant scene.  We were taking a friend out to eat, who had moved out to LA a few years ago. We were looking for a decent restaurant with pleasant atmosphere that was also OK for kids. When taking out-of-town visitors to eat out, I am quickly reminded of the limited good food choices. I strongly felt this again last evening. With Cooper's Hawk fully booked we headed to Casa Grande for Mexican. It is housed in the former Max and Erma's behind the mall. When I walked in, I immediately liked the place. It was a notch above most Mexican restaurants as far as decor. It had well-appointed booths, tile, and rich-looking wooden banisters and tables. In-house chips and freshly made salsa were on the table. Also served with the chips is ranch dressing??  The chips and salsa were very good and were starting to quickly fill our bellies. The freshly made guacamole next to us made me want to order it. It was abundant and beautiful in color. Service was prompt and our entrees appeared in better than average time. The entrees, though, were average - not bad but not that good. My  husband's beef fajitas were large in portion, comprised of thin strips of meat and a variety of bell peppers coming with a side of rice or beans and a small smattering of shredded iceberg lettuce. My vegetarian enchilada dish featured a bean burrito, cheese enchilada and bean tostada with a few shreds of lettuce all which were very average. The food seemed spare for $8 and was very bland. My daughter made the mistake of ordering the cheese pizza from the kids menu which came out with white soft squishy dough. Even after sending it back, it returned too pale. The dessert menu was limited.

Atmosphere - 8
Service -8
Price - 6
Presentation - 6
Food - 6
Overall - 6

Claddagh Cravings

Ever since Rob 'N Jay Chippies on N. College closed about seven years ago, I have been searching for those fish and chips that remind me of the lovely fried fish and chips I sampled in England and Ireland. I especially like the British version with the optional curry sauces. Rob 'N Jay kept me very happy during my first pregnancy. I asked the family to go to Claddagh over the weekend - I had a craving! Claddagh is a small Midwestern chain that has been part of the Indy scene - especially downtown. In the northside version, I ordered the fish and chips, of course. My husband ordered the chicken curry, and a sister-in-law a hamburger and salad. Sadly, the fish though fried well, was pretty tasteless and undersalted, my husband's curry flavorless with tiny blocks of chicken, and the hamburger average. Maybe if you are coming here for drinks, it is more enjoyable. After all the interior is cozy and fairly authentic and the choice of beers a plus. I find the menu lacking - not sure if it is British or Irish. We had such a difficult time finding an appetizer that appealed to our group that we gave up. Prices are not cheap. Still searching...

Atmosphere - 8
Service - 6
Price - 5
Presentation - 7
Food - 6
Overall - 6

Corrin's First Post!

Windmill Grill in Kokomo

Let’s face it: our beloved Hoosier state has very few excellent restaurants. Oh sure, there are quite a number of fine dining establishments with prices to match, scattered throughout Indiana, restaurants touted by critics and advertised as having local ingredients and gourmet fare prepared by expert chefs. The truth is, as my sisters and I sadly have found, very few of these restaurants live up to their hype. We find that the food quality is uneven and several high-priced dishes have been spectacularly bad! We keep looking for a go-to restaurant in Indianapolis-one with consistently good food, good atmosphere and reasonable prices. Maybe a few gourmet surprises would be nice too. 

            Which brings me to Windmill Grill: if you’re ever in Kokomo, or there about, and have a hunger for breakfast, lunch, dinner, a late-night snack or just some gourmet coffee and dessert, this is your place. It is the almost perfect “go-to” for a meal. I have eaten there many a morning, noon and night since the 1990’s when they opened, and I’ve yet to be disappointed. Their food is almost always inexpensive, fresh, tasty and well-cooked with gourmet surprises, such a tilapia Newburg offered recently.

            For my meal there last week, I ordered salmon with Caribbean glaze, baked sweet potato with brown sugar and butter, broccoli and their signature Farmhouse salad.  The glaze was perfect, savory and sweet, but not overpowering the salmon. The broccoli  was bright and green, yet tender, and the sweet potato was mellow and deep orange, its sweetness enhanced by the butter and brown sugar (although I only allowed myself a little dab of each due to my PD (perpetual dieting) condition. The accompanying roll was so good I yearned for another though my PD wouldn’t allow it. As I ate the salad, I thought “A mere salad shouldn’t be this good;” but then I realized,” With real bacon bits, chunks of  boiled egg and crispy potato sticks, how could it not be!”

            My sister Ruthie and her husband Ray shared a hefty chopped steak, smothered with sautéed mushrooms and onions and a rich brown sauce, accompanied by from-scratch mashed potatoes, and green beans studded with bits of onion and red bell pepper. Ray was the only one to opt for dessert (Ruthie suffers from the same PD condition as I.) His huge serving of homemade pecan pie, garnished with whipped cream and caramel sauce was as delicious as it was large. We know this because he would not share.

            I still don’t know why this great restaurant is named Windmill Grill. Some day I’ll have to ask the friendly owner,  Tom Trine, whose family works in the kitchen.  The spacious dining room is paneled in knotty pine, displaying lots of Hoosier memorabilia andl a large-scale model train that runs on tracks overhead. It’s a warm, farmhouse kind of place with the quiet buzz of many contented diners, but there’s nary a windmill in sight!
            The bottom line is if you want a reasonably-priced meal (most entries are under $10), as well as very good, often excellent, food , then head north on Dixon Road in Kokomo to the grill with no windmills.

Atmosphere - 7

Service - 9

Price - 8

Presentation - 8

Food - 8

Overall - 8

Listen up: Better quality lettuce would improve the Farmhouse salad.